Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: What better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising?

This week, we tear our family apart, see things in black and white, go across the pond for some true crime, and talk about global warming.

The Killing of Two Lovers

Director Robert Machoian deserves some of our collective attention.

The Killing of Two Lovers follows David, who desperately tries to keep his family of six together during a separation from his wife, Nikki. They both agree to see other people but David struggles to grapple with his wife’s new relationship. The Hollywood Reporter calls the film “a transfixing drama without a wasted word or a single inessential scene.”

It’s rare when I miss out on a gem like this, but since the movie is available on-demand and in theaters as of this weekend, I would recommend you seek this one out simply for its trailer. I cannot tell you how many trailers I see that feel like plays put to film, with direction that seems perfunctory rather than inspired and environments that look neatly, maddeningly manicured. Machoian’s cinematography alone has visual echoes of the Coen brothers’ early efforts, and this story is not one that will end well. Sometimes life is hard and dangerous, but so is love, and this thing looks like it’s going to pack one hell of a punch.

The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet

Director Ana Katz is pushing our boundaries a bit.

Photographed in stark black-and-white imagery, and awash in ruminative metaphor, writer-director Ana Katz’s THE DOG WHO WOULDN’T BE QUIET captures midlife coming of age in slices of life both specific and universal.

Sebastian is an ordinary man in his thirties devoted to his loyal dog and working in a slew of temporary jobs. As he moves fitfully through adulthood, he navigates love, loss and fatherhood — until the world is rocked by a sudden catastrophe, upending his already turbulent life.

It’s rare when I’m left wondering what I just saw or thinking about how something like this came out of a certain mind. There is almost an indescribable beauty in a trailer that doesn’t want to give you anything more than moments. How those moments fit together, or what they all ultimately mean, is not up for exploration just yet. This trailer wants you to watch, listen, and feel something. It’s beautifully edited, it’s strange, and it gives me hope that there are still filmmakers who are pushing the boundaries of cinema.

Nail Bomber: Manhunt

There are criminals everywhere in the world, and that’s why true crime documentaries will always be with us.

The story of how one man held London to ransom for 13 days in 1999. The far-right extremist detonated three bombs in Soho, Brixton and Brick Lane, hoping to start a race war. Instead, as the documentary reveals, he inspired ordinary people to stand up and take action, helping to catch him and ultimately bring him to justice.

When the subject deals with trying to start a race war, Americans need to see how far people will go to make it happen. This trailer hits much different in 2021. It might not resonate as much if it arrived at a time when we all, incorrectly, thought we were moving in a more racially progressive direction. However, the trailer doesn’t stop there. It smartly gives us a taste of what it takes to combat hate like this: solidarity. It’s a little moving and a little inspiring, but there’s no question that this is the true crime story that transcends the usual fare that’s out there.

Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet

Director Jon Clay isn’t here to make us feel better.

Breaking Boundaries tells the story of the most important scientific discovery of our time – that humanity has pushed Earth beyond the boundaries that have kept Earth stable for 10,000 years, since the dawn of civilization. The 75-minute film takes the audience on a journey of discovery of planetary thresholds we must not exceed, not just for the stability of our planet, but for the future of humanity. It offers up the solutions we can and must put in place now if we are to protect Earth’s life support systems.

What can you say about a nature documentary from David Attenborough that hasn’t already been said? The man is literally the premier authority on issues relating to the health of the planet, and this certainly will not be a pep talk. Unlike his other documentaries that can have jaw-dropping imagery of nature just being nature, this feels like it’s going to be more something like An Inconvenient Truth than it is The Blue Planet. It’s not a bad thing, though, and hearing from an environmental scientist might be the sobering finger-wagging we need to understand what we’re slowly doing to the planet.

Nota bene: If you have any suggestions of trailers for possible inclusion in this column, even have a trailer of your own to pitch, please let me know by sending me a note at [email protected] or look me up via Twitter at @Stipp

In case you missed them, here are the other trailers we covered at /Film this week:

    • The Forever Purge Trailer – Looks like hot trash but I’m sure it’ll do well
    • 1971: The Year Music Changed Everything Trailer – Wildly interesting
    • Lupin Part 2 Trailer – So very disappointed that they’re not letting their French flag fly on this one; dubbing sucks
    • Stillwater Trailer – Not really sure how I feel this one, to be honest
    • Lisey’s Story Trailer – Movie of the week quality
    • The Green Knight Trailer – HELL YEAH
    • Pride Trailer – I got chills watching this
    • Solos Trailer – Way too polished
    • Love Death + Robots Volume 2 Trailer – Love the variety
    • Fatherhood Trailer – I get where they’re going but I’m not sure I’m buying it
    • Venom: Let There Be Carnage Trailer – Seriously, one of the worst trailers I’ve seen this year
    • Blindspotting TV Series Trailer – Clever and it honors the source material well
    • Wish Dragon Trailer – Oof
    • The Sparks Brothers Trailer – Never heard of them but I’m curious
    • Stalker Trailer – Pass
    • Friends: The Reunion Trailer – That sound you hear? It’s the Brink’s truck backing up to each one of their mansions.

The post This Week In Trailers: The Killing of Two Lovers, The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet, Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet, Nail Bomber: Manhunt appeared first on /Film.